The Fall of Constantople has set off ripples throughout Europe. Kings, Archbishops and Magi alike across Europe are forced to react to this great change. Yet for Eastern Europe this is just a sign of things to come: beyond the Eastern horizon a new threat is growing - one that could swallow all of Europe with flame and steel.

Amidst these world-changing events, a group of childhood friends - all versed in the arts of magic - uncover a secret that could turn the tide of things to come. Yet they are not the only ones who know of this, and dark powers conspire against them with the fate of the Known World as the victor's prize.

Set on the Black Sea coast in the turbulent 13th Century, the saga details the lives of these powerful magi, their allies and their agents in their struggle to survive.

Applications Close 26th Feburary, 2012

Ars Magica 5th Edition
If you are new to Ars Magica, you are welcome to join the game! As long as you have the 5th edition rulebook handy, that's enough to play from. Ars Magica characters develop a lot over play - they can quickly become unrecognisable from the characters they started out as. As such, new players are welcome to use the template characters from the core rulebook. Note that the free-to-download rulebook from Atlas Games is 4th edition, not 5th.

Saga Expectations
Ars Magica by nature is a more role-play than roll-play system. The saga itself will be progressing at a reasonable pace - I am aiming for approximately 1-2 stories per game year, and I will be keeping each story fairly short.

There will be combat, but not huge amounts of it. In many cases, combat can be either avoided or swiftly resolved by the magi.

Character Notes
There are some requirements for character backgrounds. These have been outlined in more detail in the game forum, but in short the magi are all friends from childhood. All magi will be starting fresh from their apprenticeship, just starting out into a wide, scary world of magicians, faeries, demons and others.

Recruiting Notes
I have some friends who I am hoping will be joining this game; I will be giving precedence to people I know. That said, there will be room for an additional 2-3 players, with the possibility of more slots opening in future.

About Me
This is the first PbP game I've run. I've played in PbP games before, so I'm familiar with things like posting rates and how long combat can take. I have been running tabletop RPG games (Ars Magica and others) for over two decades, so I've got a rough idea of what I'm doing.

Game Description:

You are a group of young magi sworn together to see a new Covenant in the Transylvanian Tribunal rise to prominence. Yet you share bonds beyond that of a simple oath; a shared childhood experience binds you to each other, and also to a powerful adversary who seeks to destroy not just the Order of Hermes but all of Christendom.

Game post rate has recently fallen to ~3/week, but we would like to resume 5/week, with the expectation of most being 1/weekday

A couple questions: do you intend the fall of Constantinople to have a direct impact on the story? I was considering having my grog for the prelude be one of the looters of Constantinople, cursed by the Divine with nightmares of the things he saw and did there. He is now making is way as a mercenary soldier, and might potentially give the opportunity to impart some story-specific flashbacks to the PCs, if the GM wanted.

Do you have more specifics in mind for the shared background / history, apart from being raised together from age 4-9 by Matros of Jerbiton in Thebes?

Can you tell us any more about the two senior magi who will be at the covenant, even if they are not available as "hooks" for mentors and such? It may be useful / fun to build personalities that mesh or conflict with theirs.

A couple questions: do you intend the fall of Constantinople to have a direct impact on the story? I was considering having my grog for the prelude be one of the looters of Constantinople, cursed by the Divine with nightmares of the things he saw and did there. He is now making is way as a mercenary soldier, and might potentially give the opportunity to impart some story-specific flashbacks to the PCs, if the GM wanted.

Do you have more specifics in mind for the shared background / history, apart from being raised together from age 4-9 by Matros of Jerbiton in Thebes?

Can you tell us any more about the two senior magi who will be at the covenant, even if they are not available as "hooks" for mentors and such? It may be useful / fun to build personalities that mesh or conflict with theirs.

Grogs and Prelude
The Prelude will be taking place during the siege of Constantinople, in 1204, and in the city as well. The grogs in question will be working for House Tremere - either directly as loyal custos or indirectly as paid mercenaries.

I am happy for the same grogs to be played characters later on in the saga proper, assuming they survive Constantinople. That I can't guarantee, dice can be fickle things.

With this in mind, any grogs who are carried over from the prelude will get a further 270xp due to the next section of their lives, but may have access to additional abilities depending on the actions they take during the prelude. These prelude characters will also be potential companion characters, again assuming they survive.

The Two Covenant Masters
The two covenant masters are Vinis of Tremere and Matros of Jerbiton. Matros is a scholar and a teacher, with the Gentle Gift, and an interest in antiquities. Vinis is similarly interested in ancient magics and digging up the past - though is more brusque and quicker to resort to force to solve problems. He's not as much of a people person.

Shared Backstory
Thebes Tribunal has a tradition where all the potential apprentices are kept until the Tribunal, then doled out as apprentices. The player magi are, as children, being looked after by Matros of Jerbiton at a schola house run by the Order in Constantinople. I'm sure you can work out what the prelude is going to cover from this.

As for the fall of Constantinople having an impact on the saga story: absolutely. There are events that will happen there and will continue to happen there which are very relevant to the ongoing saga. It's part of the reason I want the covenant to have easy access to the Black Sea; it provides easy access for return trips to that city.

I've owned a copy of the rulebook for quite some time already but never got the chance to play. Posting interest, and stirring some ideas around.

I'm happy to have players new to the system. Feel free to jump on in and post in the OOC thread or the covenant planning threads.

If you're unfamiliar with the system itself, I'd recommend using one of the template grogs and possibly even a template magus as a starting point. If you are unfamiliar with the setting, I'd recommend not playing a House Guernicus magus, but that's about it really.